Amazon #1 Best Seller in Volleyball
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One of the Top Sports Biographies of the Year (2024)
A window into the mind of an elite performer as the author attempts to excavate his past and untangle a historical thread that connects the “then” with the “now”.
Costas Theocharidis, one of the top student-athletes – and most controversial figures – in US college sports history, has released his first book. Costas: Warrior for Life is a story of love, pain, struggle, and redemption. His inspirational journey, fraught with challenges, setbacks and failures, transcends sports – it is about life and the power of second chances.
Theocharidis, originally from a small town in a remote, rural part of Greece, was a dominant outside hitter for the University of Hawai’i (UH) men’s volleyball program from 2000 to 2003. “Greece Lightning,” as he was affectionately called by fans, had one of the most decorated careers in NCAA college sports history, breaking records and earning nearly every athletic and academic award possible.
He became the NCAA Division I all-time leader in total kills and attacks per set (rally scoring era), the first-ever four-time first-team All-American in US college men’s volleyball history, the only international player to be a two-time NCAA National Player of the Year, and the first-ever Academic All-American of the Year for UH in US college sports. Theocharidis played an instrumental role in the NCAA’s decision to remove barriers to entry for international student-athletes, which transformed the landscape of college volleyball forever.
As a father, Theocharidis wanted to be a source of inspiration to his three daughters and the younger generation of student-athletes, so he decided to write a book to document and chronicle his journey through it all. He hopes that this book will prove valuable to adults, young leaders, athletes, and others and inspire them to wholeheartedly pursue their dreams, challenge and elevate themselves beyond the edge of their current abilities, and inspire others to rise along with them.
